Deserters

Frontline

Alex finally finished his training a month after the attack. He graduated as one of the top men in his class. He received his first assignment not even one day after his training finished. He was going to fight on the front lines.

The southern border of Maximilian's land had been under constant attack for the last few months. Bandits, assassins, mercenaries... Someone wanted to extend their borders... Alex's squad and two others were sent to replace the men lost and to bring supplies.

Alex arrived at the front after two days. The place looked like a small fort. Barracks, torture chambers, storage, the Captain's Chambers... and the graveyard... Alex was sick to his stomach from the moment he stepped off of the carriage. He could smell the death and the air was as thick as blood. Alex gaged when he breathed. He and his squad went to the barracks to drop of their belongings before reporting to the commanding office for their orders.

Alex was stationed in a watch tower with another soldier who was already there. There were two rifles up there for emergencies, both with a 30 round magazine. Ammunition was scarce anymore so all rifles had full auto capabilities taken out so that soldiers wouldn't waste ammunition. The other soldier stood in silence watching to the south for anyone who might attack.

Alex was up in the tower for a couple hours and was already sick of it. He started thinking of home. He missed his mother and sister. He let out half a smile.

Mid thought, Alex suddenly heard a bullet whip past his head. Before he could even acknowledge it he heard the other soldier hit the ground. Alex turned and saw the soldier was shot straight through the neck. He was gasping for air, choking on his own blood and clinging on to whatever few moments of life he had left. The first shot was followed by a flurry of gunfire from both whoever it was that was attacking and the other watch towers. Alex picked up one of the rifles and pointed it out toward the gunfire but saw nothing. And then it just stopped...

A moment later the was screaming coming from the distance. A whole army of men were running straight for the gate. Every soldier in the fort grabbed their swords and started running towards the gate to meet the enemy. Alex jumped down from the tower and drew his sword running with everyone else. Two soldiers ran up to the doors and began to open them, but before they could even budge them the were blown open and the soldiers were knocked onto their butts. What seemed like hundreds of soldiers came running into the fort. Alex's ears were ringing but when he looked up he saw one of the soldiers who had be knocked down being impaled through the stomach on the ground and others fighting. Blood was being sprayed everywhere. Alex was suddenly struck onto the ground and a huge man was hovering over him. The man raised his sword and started to bring it down to impale Alex, but there was a gunshot and the man's head jerked back and he fell to the ground. Alex looked over from where the gunshot came from and saw the commanding officer standing there with his pistol drawn and a little but of smoke coming from the barrel. The commanding officer looked at Alex for a moment and then went back to dropping the invaders one shot at a time until he too drew his blade.

Alex got up and looked around for a moment. He was frozen with fear. His ears were ringing and everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. He shook his head, grabbed his sword and reluctantly ran into the battle. He impaled one man from behind, sliced another man in the neck, making blood spray onto his chest and his face, and then stabbed another man in the side before he could slash one of Alex's men. He kept fighting, blocking, killing... he felt as though he didn't have control and suddenly was completely unaware of what was going on... then he blacked out.

When he slowly started to regain his consciousness, he was being dragged by two soldiers away from the battle, blood on his hands and blood dripping from his stomach. He heard a massive amount of gunfire and saw about 20 soldiers all armed with rifles shooting and chasing off the remaining invaders. Alex was picked up and put onto a table that already had some blood on it. One of the soldiers ripped his shirt off and started putting pressure on his stomach. Then he looked down and saw the he had been slashed across his stomach and then felt all of the pain. The fort doctor rushed over to him and pushed the soldier off of Alex and started cleaning the wound. Alex let out a scream from the pain that felt like he was being burned from the inside out. One of the soldiers grabbed his hand and Alex felt like he was crushing the soldier's hand. The doctor began to stitch up the wound. Alex was in so much pain he couldn't make a sound. He coughed a few times which made the pain worse and slowly started to black out. Then his eyes closed and his body fell limp...